


Game Night Prep: Yang Xiao Long & Coffeehouse: a multisystem RPG supplement

by Kiiratam



Series: Game Nights at Beacon Academy & Beyond [7]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Metatext
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 06:56:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20541965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Yang provides a short review ofCoffeehouse: a multisystem RPG supplement, from the writers ofMetrics & Muses. Usable with all editions of the most popular roleplaying game, shady versions of Remnant, and many other RPGs.Takes place between Volumes 1 & 2. (My BMBLB fic index)





	Game Night Prep: Yang Xiao Long & Coffeehouse: a multisystem RPG supplement

"Blake, we _have_ to try this." Yang rolled off of the top bunk, and hopped onto the bottom bunk next to her. Vibrating with excitement.

  
Marking her place in _Howling at the Moon_ (right in the middle of one of the interminable teen angst sections), Blake looked up. "What is it?"

  
"I've been looking at RPGs, since I'm not sure if Ruby's going to continue her F&F game."

  
Blake nodded. "It does seem like a lot of work. And classes _are_ getting harder." She had to choose between doodling or reading a book, now.

  
"So I was looking for games I wanted to run."

  
"Okay..."

  
"And I found this!" Yang held out her scroll. Blake looked at the title on the display. _Coffeehouse: A multisystem RPG supplement. _

  
She looked back up at Yang's beaming smile. _I could stare at her smile forever._ Blake forced herself to actually respond. "...It's the coffee shop AU splatbook?"

  
"Oh good, you're familiar with the concept."

  
"Yes...?"

  
Yang scrolled to the table of contents. "What this does is give rules for translating characters into a coffee shop AU, from a whole bunch of systems. F&F, WereGrimm, the **Tabarzin 20K** games, X-Hairs, whatever." She skipped to a specific page, checked a chart. "Orlando, for instance, could be a guy who just quit his government job to fufill his dream of becoming a folk artist. But he's actually a sex god, and doesn't realize it."

  
"Oh, he realizes it." Blake managed to control her blushes, thinking about the pages of smut she'd written about Orlando and his... mighty deeds.

  
"Yeah, but you can't _start_ with that. You've got to leave room for stuff to happen." Yang grinned. "What if Orlando realizes he's amazing at sex, and starts hiring himself out as an escort? Think of all the drama that could cause with Furioso, the barista who makes his skinny Vacuo vanilla latte with four extra shots of espresso! And is actually a member of the secret police!"

  
"I don't know if that really fits in a coffee shop AU, Yang. They're just supposed to be cute fluff." Blake peered over Yang's shoulder. "Does it have actual rules, or is it just co-operative storytelling?"

  
"Bit of both?" She started skipping around in the text. "There's a whole chapter with super-crunchy rules for F&F. Even the edition we don't talk about."

  
"Wait, what? Which edition?"

  
"Exactly." Yang reached over and mussed her hair. "But they've also got their own mini system, which is pretty squishy. I mean, you just need a couple of six-siders. And decide if you're better at Coffee or Art."

  
"Can that really support a game?" That really didn't sound like a lot.

  
"One or two sessions, at least. It's meant for short games. Or side treks." Yang set her scroll down. "They also including rules for running a coffee shop as a side-business, and a brief history of coffee, and a drinker's guide to coffee-" She shook her head. "They're _really_ enthusiastic."

  
Blake smirked. "Do you think we can make Weiss play the barista?" Flustered Weiss was the most entertaining Weiss.

  
"She is the coffee drinker. We could ask Nora, too."

  
Could Nora even be flustered? "Do they have anything about tea in there?"

  
Picking up her scroll again, Yang flipped back to the table of contents. "Yeah, hold on... 'Many of these ideas can be translated to other cafe-like environments, such as tea house, patisseries, bakeries, or even bookstores.' They've got a page or two of rules to change, and recommended reading for the history of tea, and all that."

  
"So what does the Fortress Master do?"

  
"The usual. Create situations, watch the players try to resolve them. Probably laugh. They've also got rules where the players are all competing for the affection of the FM, who plays the barista that everyone is crushing on."

  
"That sounds ridiculous."

  
Yang shrugged. "It actually sounds like a fun idea. For a one-shot, at least."

  
"Are you going to run that?" Blake wasn't sure if she wanted that. On one hand, she was certain that she could win barista!Yang's affection. On the other, she didn't necessarily want to do that in front of everyone.

  
"Maybe? I haven't really run this kind of game before. I mostly just ran fortress crawls for Ruby. And that's about as far from a Coffee Shop AU as you can get."

  
Blake thought for a few second. "What if you just ran it like a reverse fortress? So the players are all baristas, and the 'monsters' are just customers. Weird, weird customers."

  
"That's pretty much what they did for the F&F section. They made a super-crunchy coffee creation guide, and the coffee you serve is basically just a whole bunch of attacks stacked together. Then you see how satisfied they are, and what kind of tip they leave. Your regular customers are kind of like returning to town. They reduce your stress, and all that."

  
"What about running something like that?"

  
"It is a lot closer, yeah. But it does downplay the coffee shop romance angle."

  
Looking down, Blake fidgeted with one of her buttons. "That part always struck me as awkward. I mean, it's their job to be friendly."

  
"Yeah, there's a whole section on pitfalls of the genre, and that's the big one. The authors think that romances only work if the barista is the one who initiates." Yang flipped to a page. "The F&F section has a tracker for how creepy the customer is being. Mostly for monsters, but it's pretty easy to use it for potential romance options."

  
Leaning against Yang, and reading her scroll, Blake asked, "So for player-customers, it looks like the game is to get the barista's affection high, keep your creepiness very low, _and_ actually do whatever your job is. What's this part?" She pointed at a paragraph, put her other hand on Yang's back for support. Just for balance, Blake told herself. Not because she needed to touch Yang more.

"Oh, that's just a micro-summary of one of their other supplements. Giving you the bare bones of running art projects and paperwork as F&F encounters, with hit points and everything."

  
"Ummm." Was she flexing on purpose?

  
"_Metrics & Muses_ is actually one of the best known third-party F&F supplements. It's, well, weird, but really interesting. You can get crazy results when you use the monsters from it in a regular F&F game. Imagine Furioso and everyone fighting a horror movie screenplay."

  
Blake gave Yang a very skeptical look.

  
"They also have a supplement called _Adamant Chef_, where you have to kill monsters, cook them, and serve them to judges. Part actual F&F, part M&M. But not much talking. Coffeehouse tones down on the actual fighting, and adds a lot more social stuff."

  
"So what are you going to run?"

  
"I dunno yet. Are you interested?"

  
"I guess? I think I'd be more into it if it was a tea house. Or a book store."

  
Yang grinned. "No reason it can't be a bookstore with an attached cafe. I'll keep thinking about it."

  
"Okay." Blake picked up her book again. Remembered where she was (ugh, angst), and put the book down again. "I'm going to go make tea. Do you want to come along?"

  
"Sure. Guess I made you thirsty."

  
_Well, she's not wrong._


End file.
